Improved floor for buildings



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HAVILAH M. SMITH' AND WILLIAM c. SMITH, or New Yoann. r.v

v Letters Patent No. 93,646, dated August 10, 1869.

IMPROVED FLOOR FOR BUILDING-'S'.

The Schedule referred to in 'these Letters Patent and makngpart of the same.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HAVILAE M. SMITH and WILLIAM G. SMITH, of the city and, State of New York, have invented and Ina-'de a new and useful Improvement in Floors'for Buildings; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and. exact de.- scription of the said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1 is a section of the floor transversely of the beams, and I Figure 2 is a section longitudinally of' the beams, at the line a: x, a portion only of such floor being represented.

Like letters denote the same parts.

' Floors have heretofore been made with the beams a u, between which the deafening-boards b b are secured; and on these, deafening-material, such as refuse plaster, sawdust, Sto., have been introduced, as at c. A

III floors of this character, and also in floors without deafening, there is great risk of fire spreading with rapidity, because, the air has more or less access to the under sides of the flooring-boards, and a lirev that burns through the floor extends among the beams. Besides this, water will run through'the i'loors, and frequently do more injury to goods than the fire.

The object of our invention is to render the iioors lire and water-proof, so that the beams will not catch lire, even if the flooring is burnt up, and the water employed in extinguishing the fire, or otherwise falling upon the iioor, will not leak through. .We also construct the ceiling in such a manner that fire cau- ;not spread with rapidity, and the ceiling is substantially fire-proof, even if the plaster -is partially broken off.

v. In ol'der to effect the foregoing objects, we make use of strips d d, nailed upon the upper surfaces of the beams a, said strips being of amuch less width than the beams.

We next apply a layer, f, ot' plaster of Paris, Inortar, or other Inaterial'that will not burn, and that will form a Water-proof surface, lapping over the angles 2 2 of the beams, and effectual-ly protecting them from fire, at the same time covering the upper surfaces of the beams, and protectingl them; and, the plaster being gauged level with the upper surfaces of Vthe strips d d, thereis nov air-space between the flooringboards e e and the lire-proof layer f,- and, as an additional protection to thebeams, we provide, if desired, stripsof sheet-metal, atv t', between the strips d and beams a, the same being wider than the strips (l, and reaching into the layer f, so that the beam 'itself will Y vbe protected, evenif the heat vshould be sufficiently intense to burn up the strips d. v

The strips d may be made wider at the top than at -the bottom, as shown, so as to allow the fire-proof l material to more fully cover the upper surface'bf the beams.

1t is usual to latb directly upon the beams, and then plaster upon the laths. The beams are often too far apart for receiving the lathing, in which case furring-strips are first nailed across the beams, and to these the laths are nailed. Y This construction allows' air to circulate through the entire iioor, and hence fire will pass along rapidly, particularly after a portion of the plastering-may be broken'off. Our improved ceiling is made by lathing directly upon the beams, as at lt,- then applying a rough, strong coat of plaster, at l; and upon this we nail the furring-strips m rn, transversely of the beams, and apply a second lathing, at n and upon this the regular coats of plaster, at o, are applied, and the ceiling finished.

This construction prevents re spreading, because a circulation of air between the beams is checked, and, if the heat is suihciently intense to crack and burn oi one layer of plaster, the second layer still remains, to protect the beams.

If l desired, the surface of the beams may be coated with plaster before the strips dare nailed down; or these strips d-might be coated or saturated with iireproof material.- I

When this improvement is used for the roof of a building more or less inclined, to shed off the water,

a layer of felting maybe put on after the deafening c and plaster f have been applied, and then the composition of bituminous material and sand or gravel spread upon the sheets of -felting, to form what is known as the graveleroofing; or any other desired character of roofing-material may be applied upon the surface pre-V paredas aforesaid.

In laying the flooring-boards e c, paint, tar, or other water-proof material, may be employed, to aid in rendering the structure absolutely water-proof.

We do not claim supporting the floor on strips, when those strips rest upon the boards between the beams that also receive thedeafening; neither do we make use of any such device; and we are aware thatA the furring-stri ps have been sustained parallel, or nearly so, with the beams, by iron bars running across 'them and the beams. A

That we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

ll The strips (l, upon the beams c, combined with.

the tire-proof material, introduced at f, above the deafening b or c, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The double lztthing k u, with the *intervening plustering l and furring m, in combination with the plastering o of the ceiling, as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination of the double lathing and plats'- tering of theceiling with the deafening and fire-proof material below the oor-boards, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

l In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our sig natures, this 12th davy of December, A. D. 1868.

HAVILAH M. SMITH. Witnesses: WILLIAMVO. SMITH.

CEAS. H. SMITH, GEO. T. PINGKNEY; 

